The Absence of Sound is Nothing
by Rai Hikari
Summary: This story is Twilight rewritten in Edward's POV with small differences. Each chapter is based around a certain song that leads the theme of the chapter. Sorry I write bad summaries, but the story part I'm pretty good at. Come see!
1. Introduction

Dear Readers,

I've read many stories from this site and I have decided to write a bit of my own Twilight fanfiction. This story will be a Twilight remix with the story being in Edwards POV (point of view) instead of Bella's and will have a few different twists in the way of extra-curricular classes and activities. I am not Stephenie Meyer, I will never be her, nor will I ever write like her, so please don't sue me. Everything character-wise and setting wise, except for the few changes I make, are hers. As much as I would love to own Edward- I don't. I will try to release a new chapter of this each week, but I will need a ton of reviews to tell me if you like what I'm doing or not. If you hate it, tell me that (along with telling me why) and I may just change it to make it a little better within reason. Well, here goes my first chapter of The Absence of Sound is Nothing. Happy Reading!

-Rei

P.S. Since this page is a random author's note, I figured that I'd give you a little heads up as to what's going on. The list below contains Edward and Bella's schedules in the wonderful Stephenie Meyer's book Twilight. The only difference is that in the real story Bella takes Spanish instead of French and to make the schedule logical, in my mind, Edward's second block is English and Government is moved to the third block… The major change is French for Bella since I know French and I honestly can't see any difference to the story if we're in Edwards POV with Bella learning French… After school on certain days may be a bit different, but I won't release such info now… That you'll have to wait and see…

**Edward's Schedule**

1) Calculus  
2) English  
3) Government  
4) Gym  
Lunch  
5) Biology  
6) Spanish

**Bella's Schedule**

1) English  
2) Government  
3) Trigonometry  
4) French  
Lunch  
5) Biology  
6) Gym


	2. Chapter 1: The Day Before

This is it- the first chapter. This chapter focuses on the day before Bella's first day at Forks High School. Review and let me know what you think about it!

**Disclaimer:** Just to kill any rumors, even though I think that I've already covered this: I am not Stephenie Meyer and I don't own Twilight. I may want to, but I don't…

**Chapter One: **The Day Before

I stared at the steering wheel for the three-hundred and fifty-third day at this pathetic excuse for a high school, blocking the three-hundred or so voices from my mind. This was mostly idle chatter that had already been covered at the beginning of the year- _What could they possibly still have to talk about?_

Behind me sat my four brothers and sisters: Alice, a pixielike, thin girl, is my favorite sister who just so happens to be able to see the future in weird glimpses. Then there's Rosalie, tall and statuesque with a beautiful figure, who at times seems completely self-absorbed and shallow, but I always knew deep down that she'd be there for me. She's also a brilliant mechanic. My two brothers, Jasper and Emmett, are complete opposites as well. Jasper is tall and lean and is able to identify and influence the emotions around him. Emmett on the other hand is all muscle with a bunch of brute strength to back him up.

All of us along with Carlise and Esme, our adoptive parents, are vampires. Not the goofy Hollywood depiction of them, but real live- dead- vampires. Vampires have immortal life, which is what brings us back to the current situation of sitting in front of the high school in the hole-in-the-wall town of Forks, Washington.

Glancing at the clock, which read two minutes before the final starting bell, my family and I hesitantly got out of the car, an expensive Volvo S60 R, and trudged at a quick pace in monotonous silence. None of us was pleased to have to attend another day, much less another two years of high school because personally, I'd graduated from high school more times than anyone should have to…

Walking slowly, even for a human, I still got to class a few seconds before the tardy bell rang and resumed my position in the back corner of the classroom and stared out the window. I watched as the teacher nervously walked to the front of the room to face the class.

"_I hope the class can pay attention to the subject today. What if they hate it?"_

I laughed quietly so I was only one to hear it and resigned myself to my fourth lecture on trigonometric rational function…

After that class, the rest of the morning passed by really fast. Nothing good was happening in English, I know more about government than the teacher does, and with my vampire reflexes, gym is a snap.

Lunch was the usual, of course, my family and I separate from the rest of the students and take our own table, pretending to eat and staring intently on nothing in general for the entire period. No one tries to talk to us any more, not since we first moved in and purposely ignored them to avoid any unintended friendships.

I laughed slightly thinking on this and that raised questions from my family. Of course nothing was spoken out loud anymore if they wanted to talk to me. We answered aloud, but always quiet enough that no one could hear us. We tried to blend in…

"_What are you thinking about?" _That question came from Alice who always sat next to me and across from Jasper.

"Nothing much," I answered dully, talking is so overrated and I can't imagine why the humans love talking so much, "Just thinking about our life in Forks. I can't imagine how it could get any better. No one bothers us anymore."

This raised more thoughts from the peanut gallery:

""_What is he on about? Does he think we care?" _Rosalie's thought of course.

"_I wonder what Rose thought to him... She looks guilty… Sorry for that Edward!" _Emmett apologized for Rosalie's thoughts even though he hadn't heard them.

"_Silly Edward, why do you ponder such thoughts?" _I could always tell Alice's from the rest of the group.

The only one silent was Jasper and I took that as a good sign. Maybe he was thinking the same way. Life was different for the rest of the family; they had families of their own inside one family. Rosalie had Emmett and Alice had Jasper, leaving me with no one; but that never bothers me. I feel complete enough without someone else to worry about; besides; the whole love thing seems to be a bit complicated to me.

A few minutes before the end of lunch, I swiftly got up to dump my uneaten food into the garbage and walk to my next class with the rest of the family following. We had arranged our schedules so that when we all were absent at once, we wouldn't be noticed as much, and so we were all headed to opposite ends of the building.

I was stuck going to biology II by myself, not that solitude actually bothered me. I was the first person in the classroom, so there really was no rush for me to get to my seat. When the rest of the kids rushed into the classroom jubilantly I spread my books out on the table next to me and waited for Mr. Banner to start the class.

Today's lesson was especially boring, and I felt sorry for the teacher that I wasn't more interested in his lecture. I'd also been through med school twice, so I really didn't need to learn biology again. Of all the times I wished upon everything that I could sleep, this class was it.

The rest of the day was useless and uneventful like the morning. I hate learning Spanish when I knew Spanish before she was born. You shouldn't be able to say that about a teacher, but I could.

Alice waved to me from my car and I could already see the rest of them waiting patiently to get inside and get home. I laughed as I sped to a brisk sprint to the car; I was a bit fast to be blending in like a human, but no one would pay serious attention after school when most of the cars are gone anyway.

I turned the car on and turned the music to a dull roar in the background while backing neatly out of the space and onto the main road. I accelerated to about 110 mph as soon as I noticed that I was the only one on the road and we reached the house in only a few short minutes. I hate driving slow, so I don't and if, and only if- I had never hit anything, we ever got in an accident we'd be able to walk away from it easily.

Inside of our house we were a totally different family than during school. Usually after a school day, Jasper and Emmett would try to even the score of their wrestling matches with Rosalie and Alice keeping score and calling fouls on each other's husband.

Me on the other hand, I enjoyed sitting in my room and listening to my music collection. Ever since I was turned I had been collecting every bit of music that I could get my hands on, so it was only fitting that I had a very comprehensive collection. Money was never an issue if you had forever to make more of it and it was easy to buy the cds that I liked during the years. These were put in order of year and inside each year it was in order of personal preference.

When we moved here, I fixed the acoustics of my room so each note sounded like you were in the room with the band. My room also had a black leather couch to listen to music on since I had no use for a bed.

I hadn't even gotten half-way to my room when I heard the wrestling matches start to continue with low growls from the main floor of the house. I was smarter to stay up here during the matches if you didn't want to be involved…

I got into listening to one of my Debussy albums and lost track of all time. By the time I realized that I had zoned out, the disk had played and replayed at least fifteen times and it was time to face yet another day of school with the annoying humans.

How was I to know that the impending events of tomorrow had the potential to be more tragic than school itself? If I had known, perhaps I would have chosen that day, above all others, to stay home…

**Author's Note:** So how was that? I tried to darken the POV a little since Edward is a little darker than the other fanfics portray him as, but I may not have entirely succeeded… The next chapter will be labeled 'The Week After' and will be set after the chapter that Ms. Meyer has already given us in Edwards POV. I don't believe that I could write anything as great as hers was so I'm not even going to try for that… If you want to read that go to Stephenie Meyer's website at **www** _dot _**stepheniemeyer** _dot_ **com** and seek out _Midnight Sun_ on the sequels list. On that page there should be a .pdf link to her first chapter of Twilight rewritten. So, go read that and come back next week for the next chapter in this series where it'll start getting a little better story-wise since the plot wasn't mostly made-up things in my mind. Review please! See ya!


	3. Chapter 2: Do Over

**Author's Note: **I'm so sorry for not updating! Chapter 2 was supposed to be out at least 4 weeks ago! I had lent my book to a friend to create another Twilight fan, so I couldn't do anything for that whole week! Then, since I was dreading making up two chapters in a week, chapter 3 never got done along with chapter 2, 4, and 5… Tonight was supposed to be the posting of a chapter 6, but I have begun to embrace the fact that- It isn't going to happen! Another reason I dreaded writing the next chapter was that it was going to be totally my imagination, and I was terrified of making some hideous mistake and offending poor Stephenie… So! You all know that Edward went to Alaska to try to control his urge to kill Bella and to get a control on himself, right? The next chapter is the day he comes back to school and the day of the fated biology lab. I'm going to start at school to get us into the story a little easier….

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Twilight, do you think I'd be sitting here typing a fanfiction? I think not…

**Do-Over **- Based on the song "Unwritten"

I can't believe that I turned that radio station on in the Volvo this morning. Even Alice looked at me funny when I flipped the dial on instead of playing one of my thousands of classical disks.

My family had pretty much welcomed me back into the house with open arms, which is way more than I deserved considering all of the horrible things that I had thought about that girl.

I'm actually glad that I turned the radio station on. Right now my family thinks that aliens had come down and sucked the real Edward's brain left some crazy person behind. Am I crazy or just living in some sick form of sanity?

Today was the day that I would make it up to her, Bella- I corrected myself. I had ignored her and even seemed hostile towards her, and I knew, from listening to the fruity Jessica's mind, that she thought I hated her.

"_Staring at the blank page before you…"_

Wasn't that what I was doing? Looking forward to a day in this tiny town to make up for something that no one else was even aware of? Yep, that's exactly what I was doing… I hate optimism…

I was interrupted by the scalding words of an annoyed Rosalie, "Are you going to let us out of this car or just make us sit here forever?"

"Sorry…" I mumbled as I shifted the car into park and the locks clicked open.

Today was going to be hell- Quite literally…

I managed to get through calculus, English, and government before I even thought any further of the coming biology class. Gym was where it really sunk in.

During gym, I subconsciously read the minds of that Tyler kid and his thoughts were angered. Even he had heard, probably from Mike- that traitor, that Bella had been uncomfortable in biology. It was probably for the best. I certainly wasn't hoping that she decided to enjoy my company!

Finally, the bell rang for lunch and I was free to leave the presence of all the bothersome humans in the school. Of course my family always sat together.

We don't need to eat human food and if we were interspersed between the students, questions might arise that didn't need to be answered.

Then I remembered it- Emmett and Jasper had been planning a snow war for the whole morning. Snow was surprisingly fun to throw and get hit with, so I decided to join in and ended up having fun for the first time in a while, considering that Alaskans don't throw their snow, with my brothers. Rosalie had decidedly stepped to the side to avoid getting drenched and Alice was no where to be seen. She usually saved our table in the lunch room away from the others.

After a while, my brothers and I emerged into the room sopping wet and laughing while Emmett recapped the most intense, in his opinion, part of the battle. Sitting down, he shook his hair, surprisingly like a dog, and spoke an instant replay to Alice of their snow time.

I was no longer listening to them. A few minutes earlier, Bella had entered the lunch room with her friend Jessica, and had only taken one quick glance over to our table before paling and looking sick. I knew this after our eyes met, almost be accident. Was this my fault? These days, it almost always was…

I tried to focus on the task in front of me, which was eating with my family, but I could hear certain thoughts from across the room. I tried to listen to a few of them, even though I had come to terms with the fact that I couldn't read her mind…

"_Can't read my mind, I'm undefined…"_

I knew that song would be in my head the whole day… That's what comes from a love of music, even the songs you despise run rampant. I guess that's my fault for listing to the radio.

For the rest of lunch I made sure to only focus on what was happening with my own table. It was definitely less exciting than the rest of the room's conversations, but I could always tune into what they were saying in their heads.

Suddenly the bell rang and jerked me out of the daze that I had sunk into. Last time I looked we still had at least a half-hour, where had the time gone? It's not like I can sleep…

I, of course, ending up being the last person out of the cafeteria, which is odd since I'm usually first with my family, but they had left me ages ago.

I almost wish that I had stayed in Alaska… At least there I could manage to pay attention, or not. I didn't seem to have it so easy even when I went back recently. I still thought about my actions and thoughts toward _her_.

I had hoped to get to my seat before Bella, but even she had made it to class and was now passively doodling on a notebook. I slid the chair out quietly and sat down next to her, noticing that there was an experiment today- One that I had done almost four times already. I was dreading speaking to her today; what if she didn't forgive me?

"_No one else can speak the words on your lips…"_

What a time to remember that one… It's almost too accurate, only I could say what I need to make peace, or at least redeem myself in the eyes of the subjective student body.

I will at least introduce myself, and what comes after that I'll figure out as I go. Even with all of the strength I mustered, I still only managed a half-decent, quiet, "Hello."

She looked up fast to stare at me, and I no doubt was a sight. My hair still hadn't dried from that snow war and I was still sitting as far away from her as possible to make sure that she didn't get hurt.

She obviously wasn't going to speak, so I tried to keep it going with, hopefully, a more convincing tone, "My name is Edward Cullen. I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Bella Swan."

Great, lie to her! I had plenty of chances to talk to her the other week and they were wasted… Maybe she won't notice, or say anything… Maybe she forgot? The look on her face said that she hadn't.

"H-how do you know my name?" She stammered. At this I couldn't help but laugh; it was such a simple answer that didn't involve anything revealing at all.

"Oh, I think everyone knows your name. The wholes town's been waiting for you to arrive." Well almost the whole town. My family, I'm sure, didn't care a bit if she had come of not.

She had misinterpreted my laugh as thinking she was stupid, not the reason of relief that I had felt, "No. I meant, why did you call me Bella?"

Oops… Major issue there, what was I supposed to answer? I'm sure if I told her I had heard it in her friend's mind that she would think I was crazy. I know the confusion showed on my face, "Do you prefer Isabella?"

"No, I like Bella. But I think Charlie- I mean my dad- must call me Isabella behind my back- that's what everyone here seems to know me as.

"Oh." I let the subject drop and the awkward silence of two people who had two completely different lives and nothing to talk about descended on us. She was obviously feeling it worse than me, since she looked away after a bit and continued to doodle.

I could sense her relief when Mr. Banner, the teacher, started to explain the lab that we would be doing today. As I noticed before, it was the same one that I had done at least four times where you had to separate the slides in to groups of mitosis phases.

Hoping that she would get something out of this even if I didn't, I offered her the chance to go for it, "Ladies first, partner?" I tried to smile at her, hoping that she forgot the week before soon, but all that did was make her stare at me like an idiot. Maybe she wasn't that bright…

"Or I could start, if you wish." I stopped myself from smiling, was I accidentally dazzling her? Again I wondered if she really was saner than me. She had to be a nutcase to beat that one, I heard voices in my head for god's sake.

She blushed as if she knew what I had been thinking about, "No, I'll go ahead." After which she proceeded to place the slide under the microscope and adjust the slide to the proper magnification before stating quickly, "Prophase."

And this from the one who couldn't manage to answer a simple question? "Do you mind if I look?" I may not care about her grade, but Carlisle would kill me if I got a low grade in biology. I've even been to med school twice!

Reaching to grab the slide before she removed it, I caught my mistake too late to stop what was going to happen.

"_No one else can feel it for you, only you can let it in…"_

I don't know what I'm feeling at this point. I know she had felt the icy temperature that my fingers and my skin took on, but I know that she had felt something else like me… It was like an electrical current had passed between us, except for that fact that neither of us had touched a power source.

I had pulled my hand back immediately, but she still continued to stare at me as if wondering the same thing about the current. I continued to reach for the slide and took a glance at it before I agreed with her.

This battle of knowledge for this experiment, that I've begun to suspect that she's done, continued back and forth until we reached the last slide and put the materials away.

I tried to read her mind again, but it proved to be as useless as before and it left me as frustrated as before. She tried to avert her gaze and not look at me, but she hadn't yet succeeded for more than a second.

Then I could see a light bulb ignite in her eyes, "Did you get contacts?"

Where did that come from? How could she have noticed anything like that? I'm once again puzzled, "No."

She mumbled out an, "Oh," and then stated, "I thought there was something different about your eyes."

I shrugged her off trying to get her to drop the subject. I could almost see the memory in her eyes of the flat black color that I knew my eyes had taken on last week in class. I don't know how she wouldn't have noticed; it seemed that she stared enough…

"_Live your life with eyes wide open…"_

How ironic to remember that one now too… Kill the optimism of the statement, but other than that, I feel like my eyes have been opened to the fact that I would have to be careful around this Bella girl.

"So, Edward, didn't you think Isabella should get a chance with the microscope?" Mr. Banner asked. Of course she had time with it! She had even figured out more than I had…

I contained myself to answer, "Bella. Actually, she identified three of the five." I had auto-corrected her name as if I've done that my whole life, am I becoming clinically insane?

"_Sometimes my tries are outside the lines…"_

Obviously my mind has wandered there as well. I completely zoned out on the conversation between Bella and the teacher after that. I only snapped out of it when she began to doodle on that notebook again.

I should make small-talk with her. If I'm her friend, I'll start thinking about her as a person and make myself stop thinking of her as lunch… "It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" It was a logical enough question considering what I had heard from Jessica's mind at lunch.

She stiffened before answering and it made me loath the fact that I couldn't read her mind once again, "Not really." She looked somewhat suspicious of my line of questioning.

Amused a little now, I stated to get it out there, "You don't like the cold."

"Or the wet," she added.

"Forks must be a difficult place for you to live," I mused as I tried to figure her out. I was not used to doing this manually, having to figure out about someone by talking to them.

"You have no idea," she muttered darkly, remembering some dark day from the past.

She lived here by choice, and yet she hated it here? What was that about? "Why did you come here, then?"

I think no one had asked her that question yet, "It's… complicated."

"I think I can keep up," I pressed trying to keep this conversation from dying out. If she could keep up with it, I certainly could!

She met my eyes the next second and blurted out the answer, "My mother got remarried."

It was so simple I almost laughed, "That doesn't sound so complex," There had to be more to the story than that, and this girl was starting to be more interesting by the second. I softened my tone, "When did that happen?"

"Last September," she stated sadly.

By the tone of her voice she must not like this guy, "And you don't like him." I kept my tone friendly so she wouldn't back off.

"No, Phil is fine. Too young, maybe, but nice enough."

"Why didn't you stay with them?" Things aren't adding up… I stared at her without noticing as I tried to desperately read her thoughts.

"Phil travels a lot. He plays ball for a living."

"Have I heard of him?" She smiled, so I naturally smiled back. Even vampires know what baseball is.

"Probably not. He doesn't play _well_. Strictly minor league. He moves around a lot."

I made an assumption of what was coming next, "And your mother sent you here so that she could travel with him."

She raised her head a little before denying my statement, "No, she did not send me here. I sent myself."

What? "I don't understand." I know that I'm not handling myself well, and I'm showing my frustration. Why would she send herself here?

She sighed before continuing, "She stayed with me at first, but she missed him. It made her unhappy…so I decided it was time to spend some quality time with Charlie."

"But now you're unhappy," I pointed out.

She challenged that, "And?"

It was an easy challenge to shrug off, "That doesn't seem fair."

She laughed dryly, "Hasn't anyone told you? Life isn't fair."

"I believe I _have_ heard that somewhere before," I agreed equaling her tone. Such cynicism from a teenager!

She looked a bit nervous at my gaze, "So that's all."

"You put on a good show," I started slowly, gauging her reaction, "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone see."

She looked away. "Am I wrong?" I asked as she ignored me, "I didn't think so."

"Why does it matter to _you_?" She asked, irritated.

Why did it matter? "That's a very good question," I muttered, almost to myself. She looked like she was waiting for an answer, but I had nothing left to give.

"_Let the sun illuminate the words that you cannot find…"_

Too dab there was little chance of that happening. I step into the sun and the right words would be lost forever… Finally, she gave up and scowled at the board in the front.

"Am I annoying you?" I asked amused. Could I have possibly gotten under her skin that quickly?

She looked at me and answered, "Not exactly. I'm more annoyed at myself. My face is so easy to read – my mother always calls me her open book."

"On the contrary, I find you very difficult to read." If she only knew how incredibly difficult it was…

"You must be a good reader then," she replied looking up towards me again.

"Usually." I smiled at her, and that seemed to get her to look another direction. She was almost relieved to pay attention to the annoying teacher.

The rest of the class passed swiftly and quietly. I didn't speak another word with the amazingly perceptive girl next to me, nor did she make any attempts to speak to me.

"_Drench yourself in words unspoken…"_

There was so much more that I would've asked her, but the day to ask questions would not be today. If she paid any attention to her fellow peers, the day would, hopefully, never come. I was potentially dangerous to her health.

The conversation that I had just taken part in was enough to convince me to skip my last class. I knew Spanish more than the teacher, so I'd just pick up the homework from one of my siblings later and fill in the answers.

As I sat in my Volvo, it started to mist. Not enough to turn the wipers on, but enough to make me contemplate that decision. When the bell rang it was still misting and the other students were fighting their way to their vehicles. I stepped out of the car to enjoy the mist like the rest of the kids.

I couldn't help but notice Bella as she walked out of the school. Knowing that she hated the rain, I knew she wasn't too happy. I watched her get to her car and get inside and turn the heater up. She fluffed her hair to dry it out, and I caught a wave of her scent once again.

When she looked around to make sure that she wouldn't hit anyone by backing out, she noticed me staring at her. Immediately, she looked away and threw the ancient truck into reverse faster than she should have, almost hitting a rusty Corolla.

Laughing quietly, I stepped into the car to drive my family, who were already in the car drying off and talking rapidly to each other. I don't know what's to come, but I can feel a great sense of foreboding in the future. I have to tell Alice about it later…

"_Today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten."_


	4. Chapter 3: The Lie

**Author's Note: **Um… BIG apologies to all of my fans… (If I still have any…) I just turned 16 in January, so that was a big thing, and then I've been working really hard to get into the Missouri Academy, which is this college program for Juniors and Seniors that lets you get your Associate of Science degree along with your high school diploma upon graduation. It's almost been a year since I updated, and I'll try harder from now on… I couldn't decide on a song either- then I found The Used. They are the most amazing Alternative band on the face of this planet and the next… I encourage you to listen to The Bird and the Worm or pretty much anything from their Lies to the Liars album. Thanks to **Cgirl0220 **for submitting the most reviews… Lol… Last, thanks to **Inkspell12** for getting my butt into gear to write more.

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Twilight I wouldn't have been ecstatic to receive New Moon for my birthday, now would I?

**The Lie **- Based on the song "Hospital"

I am not a fan of alternative music, but my new catch-all radio station seemed to be locked in to play the music I most despise. Yesterday was bad. I am determined not to have another, but it's not looking good- at all.

Alice confronted me last night. She asked if I was alright, and I told her that I was fine. Does she think I'm losing my mind? I wish I would have told her that music tastes change- I didn't think of it fast enough.

"_This feeling never leaves you alone,"_

Dread. Merriam-Webster defines it as an apprehension or a great fear of something to come. Alice told me that I was on my own for a few days because she needed to study for a Spanish exam; I know something is coming, and it doesn't take a seer to figure it out.

It was a very tense ride as the heavy metal keened from the speakers. I don't even blame my family for darting from the car the second we pulled into a space at school. I hesitated, not wanting to resign myself to school just yet.

Finally, the song ended, and I cut the engine. I left the car and shut the door quickly. Leaning against the car, I secretly long to catch sight of Her again. Bella. Maybe longing isn't the right way to describe it…

So here I am, leaning against the gleaming metal of my silver Volvo. I can hear the telltale roar of Bella's truck coming, but I don't see it yet. About five minutes later, said truck pulled into the parking lot at a speed barely above a crawl.

I watched as she jumped out of the cab and stooped to check her tires. I can see a set of chains from here, but she had obviously not been expecting them. She did say she'd been living with her mom for a while- maybe she wasn't used to having someone around who worried about her like that.

Whatever the case, I started to hear a high-pitched squealing as another vehicle entered the parking lot. It was then that I realized what was about to happen. Bella looked up suddenly and realized the same thing- Tyler and his monstrous van were hurtling right for the very corner of the truck that Bella was standing in front of.

Without thinking, I rushed towards her and moved her away from the spot in question. We were now on the pavement next to a tan car that had the misfortune of Bella parking next to it. I think we're out of danger.

I thought wrong. The van had curled around the end of the truck and was still sliding towards us. Quietly I cursed and braced for impact. That was the moment she noticed that she wasn't alone, but we had no time for small talk.

Holding the van back, my hand fit into a neat dent in the side. Noticing that we were now stuck, I picked the van up, moved away from the broken vehicle, and swung Bella away from harm. Then the screaming began.

"Bella?" I whispered into her ear frantically, "Bella? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." She stated weakly in a tight voice. I realized that I was holding her pretty tight in my grasp, but I was still afraid to let her go. I still am.

She tried to sit up after she spoke, and I was quite sure that wasn't the best idea. "Be careful," I warned, "I think you hit your head pretty hard."

"Ow," she stated, sounding surprised.

"_It never used to hurt before- it isn't funny anymore-"_

Well, maybe it was a little funny… How could she have not noticed that her head hurt? I had to hold back my laughter because I'd been raised that it was rude to laugh at someone in this situation, "That's what I thought."

"How in the…" She trailed off and shook her head as if trying to catch her thoughts, "How did you get over here so fast?"

I became serious at once, "I was standing right next to you, Bella."

She tried to sit up again, and this time I let her while moving as far away from her as I could in the space we were trapped in. I noticed her watching my face as I tried to 'dazzle' her into forgetting her previous thought. I only use that particular vampire talent in absolute emergencies- it was necessary now.

It was then that we were attacked. No, we were safe from cars and what-not, but now the people with their fake masks of drama hurried over; their faces were streaked with tears and they were shouting at us and each other.

"_Take off the mask and leave the lies to the liars,"_

I ought to send my morning DJ a thank you card- or a free ticket to the asylum for foresight. Everyone went through the motions, but they truly were clothed in masks.

"Don't move," someone instructed.

"Get Tyler out of the van!" someone else shouted. I noticed that Bella wanted to get up and move around, but I didn't trust her in the flurry of activity- not if she was injured.

I held her down at her shoulder, "Just stay put for now."

"But it's cold," she complained. I chuckled under my breath at the irony- I'm sure being around me wasn't heating her up at all. I turned away still laughing.

"You were over there," she suddenly stated. I turned around and the laughing sound died in my throat. "You were by your car."

Locking my emotions, I responded, "No, I wasn't."

"I saw you." She looked around as the adults arrived, but I knew she wasn't going to drop the argument without a fight.

It was a fight she would get. I tried to explain the false story to her once again in hopes that she would believe it, "Bella, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way." I stared at her fully using every bit of my dazzling potential that I could.

She set her chin in a rebellious way, "No."

"Please, Bella," I willed her to agree with me as I glared at her.

"Why?"

"Trust me," I pleaded, dropping my voice to a soft murmur.

She looked up quickly as the sirens started up, but look back down into my eyes, "Will you promise to explain everything to me later?"

"_Will you look them in the face- Could you look me in the face?"_

I ordered my mind to forget the loss in morals from lying- it proved too much with the stress of keeping the thoughts from multiple people out. "Fine," I snapped in an exasperated tone.

"Fine," she repeated after me in anger.

Later, after six EMTs and two of the male teachers moved the van, stretchers were brought into the picture. Bella, of course, wanted to refuse hers. She may have won if I hadn't have told them about hitting the pavement…

I disagreed with the EMT and was awarded a front seat in the ambulance on the ride to the hospital. I'm sure it was because Carlisle is on staff there- though I don't think my persuasion was in vain.

"Bella!" I heard the police chief shout as he arrived on-scene. How could I have forgotten? She was Chief Swan's daughter. That wasn't the worst part of the situation.

My family stood off to the side watching me with looks of utter disapproval and anger.

"_I saw what you did- was it really for the best?" –_Alice's thoughts were the only one that I could hear. The rest I'm sure that I didn't want to hear… Rosalie looked positively furious…

"_Now will you ever rest your head- You end up feeling mostly dead, Pretending you're the last one, hiding with your eyes shut tightly- on the way to the hospital."_

I blinked my eyes open and removed my hand from the bridge of my nose. Subconsciously, though I had to concentrate very hard not to hear the exasperated thoughts in the minds of the EMTs, I had missed the drive to the ancient hospital, and the driver prodded me to get out of the vehicle.

A while later, once I knew that Bella had returned to her room and declared fully well, I found her room and noticed that her room was occupied by that annoying Crowley kid who had almost killed her earlier. How- ironic.

"Is she sleeping?" I asked quietly to no one in particular.

Bella's eyes fluttered open and I smirked at the way she tried- and failed- to glare at me. She really only managed a weak stare.

"Hey, Edward, I'm really sorry–" Tyler began before I raised my hand to silence him.

"No blood, no foul," I stated as I flashed a very bright smile to cover up the pun of my speech. I sat on the edge of Tyler's bed to face Bella without truly getting too close to her scent.

"So, what's the verdict?" I asked her.

"There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go," she complained. "How come you aren't strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?"

"It's all about who you know," I answered, thinking fondly of Carlisle, "But don't worry, I came to spring you."

As if cued by my words, Carlisle entered the room. Bella gaped at him as I noticed how tired he looked- it must have been a hard day.

"So, Miss Swan," he started lightly, "how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine," she said. She seemed annoyed by the constant question…

Carlisle turned on the lightboard behind Bella's head and I could see what he confirmed- she was free from any lasting damage. "Your X-rays look good," he started, "Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it pretty hard."

"It's fine," she repeated with a sigh as she scowled at me. Carlisle stood up and started to probe the back of her skull as she turned back away from me.

He noticed when she winced, "Tender?"

"Not really." She said it really quick, leading me to believe that this wasn't her first time in the hospital. I laughed and she narrowed her eyes at me.

"Well, your father is in the waiting room – you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all."

"Can't I go back to school?" She asked nervously.

"Maybe you should take it easy today."

She glared at me quickly and spoke again, "Does _he_ get to go to school?"

"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," I stated smugly.

"Actually," Carlisle corrected, "most of the school seems to be in the waiting room."

"Oh no," she moaned as she covered her face with her hands.

Carlisle raised his eyebrows. "Do you want to stay?"

"No, no!" She insisted quickly, throwing her legs over the side of the bed and hopping down. It was obviously too quickly and she staggered into Carlisle, who steadied her. Both of us mirrored the same concern.

"I'm fine," she assured him as she hid a smile in the corner of her mouth.

"Take some Tylenol for the pain," he suggested as he made sure she wasn't going to fall over.

"It doesn't hurt that bad," she insisted finally.

"It sounds like you were extremely lucky," Carlisle answered as he smiled and signed her charts.

"Lucky Edward happened to be standing next to me," she added as she stared me down again. Funny, the phrase 'if looks could kill' ran through my mind…

"Oh, well, yes," he answered, suddenly occupied in the chart in front of him. _We need to talk, Edward, I'm sure you're aware of this._

I nodded slightly- just enough to let him know that I'd heard, and he turned to address the other occupant of the room, "I'm afraid that _you'll_ have to stay with us just a bit longer…"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Bella hissed as she reached my side. Now what was I going to tell her? More lies. I stepped back to avoid her sweet smell.

"Your father is waiting for you," I reminded.

She glanced at the two others in the room, "I'd like to speak with you alone, if you don't mind."

"_Three cheers you fooled them all,"_

If only it was that easy… I glared at her and swirled around- leaving the room and storming down the small corridor. Far enough away, I stopped and glared at her again- this time I knew my eyes were cold and angry, "What do you want?"

She hesitated and when she finally spoke, it was quiet, "You owe me an explanation."

"I saved your life – I don't owe you anything."

She flinched. "You promised."

"Bella, you hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about." I stated coldly.

She glared defiantly at me, "There's nothing wrong with my head."

"What do you want from me, Bella?"

"I want to know the truth," she said, "I want to know why I'm lying for you."

"What do you _think_ happened?" I snapped angrily now.

"All I know is that you weren't anywhere near me – Tyler didn't see you, either, so don't tell me I hit my head too hard. That van was going to crush us both – and it didn't, and your hands left dents in the side of it – and you left a dent in the other car, and you're not hurt at all – and the van should have smashed my legs, but you were holding it up…" She trailed off holding back tears. How could a human be so observant?

I thought quickly and put as much confusion into my voice as I could, "You think I lifted a van off you?"

I don't think my faking worked. She merely nodded and looked at me questioningly.

"Nobody will believe that, you know," I answered in a slightly childish tone.

"I'm not going to tell anybody." She said each word slowly and rigidly. She was showing the classic signs of anger management in it's simplest form.

That surprised me, "Then why does it matter?"

"It matters to me," she insisted. "I don't like to lie- so there'd better be a good reason why I'm doing it."

"Can't you just thank me and get over it?" I asked exasperatedly.

"No."

"In that case… I hope you like disappointment."

She scowled at me for a long while before she spat out, "Why did you even bother?"

I paused while thinking about that question. Why had I risked my family's secret for this… human? I tried to convince myself that it'd been to avoid the bloodshed… "I don't know," I whispered finally. That was the truth.

Turning, I walked away from her intoxicating scent and towards the reprimands that were coming from the home front. Carlisle was waiting at the end of the hallway.

"Edward," he started, "we really need to talk."

"I'm sorry, Carlisle, I didn't mean to risk us all. I just couldn't-"

"I'm not going to judge you, but please try to remain inconspicuous for a while longer," he said as he cut me off mid-sentence.

"You're not angry?" I asked surprised.

"As long as you do what you feel is best- Edward, I trust your judgment. Alice left your car outside, and you don't really have to go back to school at this point in the day.

"_Perhaps you should try to go for a quick hunt?" _ He added in his mind so that no one would hear that part of the conversation.

"I will- thank you, Carlisle." I answered as we parted ways. I made it down the hallway and to my Volvo in the middle of the parking lot. I was in the car in a flash, and started it up. One last set of lyrics popped through my head as I shifted the car into drive and sped away:

"_You're quiet on the car ride home,_

_You're waiting for your head to explode-_

_You're hiding in your safe place,_

_Hiding with your eyes shut tightly all the way to the hospital."_


End file.
